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Connotative Language In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee uses negative connotation and vivid symbolism to persuade that being judged by an outward appearance or backstory can affect a person negatively and make the judgers feel superior. Lee uses an outstanding amount of characters to persuade this but some distinctive characters that she uses is Aunt Alexandra and the Cunningham’s. Lee also uses the Ewells and Tom Robinson to persuade her meaning. In chapter twenty-three Scout asks Aunt Alexandra if she can play with Walter Cunningham but Aunt Alexandra declines the request and does not give Scout permission to play with Walter. She explains why plus starts to judge Walter. Aunt Alexandra briefly say’s; “I’ll tell you why.. Because-he-is-trash” (Lee 301). Aunt Alexandra uses negative connotative language to describe in short phrases, the type of …show more content…

Ewell takes a stand to defend Mayella in the courtroom when Atticus starts to realize that Mr. Ewell could’ve been guilty for Mayella’s rape. Atticus tries to prove that Mr. Ewell is guilty by intentionally asking Mayella questions, but Mayella refuses to prove that Mr. Ewell is guilty and responds to this saying “I got somethin’ to say an’ then I ain’t gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me.. “ (Lee 251). This quote symbolizes the judgement that Mayella made on Tom Robinson to prove that he’s guilty. The Ewells try to prove that Tom is guilty by using racial profiling so they can look good in Maycomb and can still be accepted towards society.

“To Kill a Mocking” by Harper Lee, uses negative connotative language, and symbolism to persuade her meaning. Lee also uses distinctive characters in order to persuade her meaning. She explains that Aunt Alexandra’s judgment affect the Cunningham’s and The Ewells judgement made Tom guilty. Lee’s uses these methods in order to persuade that being judged by an outward appearance or backstory can affect a person negatively and make the judgers feel

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"I got somethin' to say an' then I ain't gonna say it no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an' if you fine fancy gentlemen don't wanta do nothin' about it then you're all yellow stinkin' cowards, stinkin' cowards, the lot of you." (Lee 251) Mayella Ewell said this in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird in Tom's trial. For this essay I will be informing you on Tom Robinson's case and the Scottsboro Boys case. Tom was accused of raping Mayella Ewell.

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In Harper Lee's classic “To Kill A MockingBird” A great scene is when Scout and Jem were in court when Atticus was defending Tom Robinson. Atticus demonstrates the use of setting diction (words) and pathos I think they learned that no matter how right you are, other people that don't like you well say that you're wrong. No matter how much evidence Atticus showed they weren't going to change the outcome of the trail.

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In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee, things can change in the blink of an eye. It can go from a peaceful taciturn summer morning to all hell broken loose. And for Aunt Alexandra, change comes extremely faster then anyone would ever expect. She would be one of the most imprudent and disrespectful person anyone would know to a caring, respected person who wouldn't despise anyone by their skin or gender.

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At one point in the book, Scout wishes to invite Walter Cunningham over for dinner when school starts, but Aunt Alexandra forcefully tells her that is not an option. Scout becomes confused. She questions her aunt and tells her that they are “good folks,” but Alexandra snaps back saying that they’re not “our kind of folks.” The argument eventually leads to Alexandra yelling at Scout and stating that Walter is trash. Her words acquire a huge reaction from Scout.

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During the pivotal trial of Tom vs. Mayella Ewell, Tom was convicted of raping Mayella. Mayella claims that Tom forced her, but later the reader finds out that Tom was offering Mayella help and the real attack was Mayella’s abusive father, Bob Ewell. Atticus tries to lend a hand to Tom by defending him with confidence, regardless of what the community has to say to the well-known lawyer. The verdict of the trial is that Tom is guilty and he comes to the sense that in Maycomb, the words of a cruel White man is more trustworthy than the words of a honest Black man. Even Atticus could not demolish the hatred of Blacks in the jury, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case” (Lee 323).

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The testimonies reveal how deep-rooted the racism within Maycomb runs, as it is present even in court rulings and how casually present it is. The court is taking place, and the order of prosecutor’s witnesses who are: Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff; Mr. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father; and Mayella Ewell, the one who is accusing Tom Robinson of raping her. When it’s Mr. Ewell’s turn to speak, he does so with many racial slurs and slang embedded in his accusations. When relaying what he saw to the jury, he points at Tom and yells “―I seen that black n*gger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” Mr. Ewell, who, although, has never been a part of a court case or viewed one, doesn’t truly care, or notice, that so far into the formal case, not one person has used racial slang to talk about Tom, and uses the term n*gger quite casually.

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Gates, and Mrs. Merriweather. Hypocrisy is a major theme in To Kill a Mockingbird and Harper Lee leaves an underlying message to explain what the times were like. Aunt Alexandra was hypocritical because her statements about Cousin Joshua and the Cunninghams. Miss Gates was also hypocritical because of her statements about Hitler and the black people in Maycomb. Lastly, Mrs. Merriweather is a voice of hypocrisy because of her opinion about blacks in Maycomb and blacks in Africa.

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